Manchester United took a giant stride toward securing a top-four finish with victory away to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon, with an early stunner from Casemiro ultimately proving enough for Erik ten Hag's men.
While United have been made to wait in their bid to seal Champions League qualification following Liverpool's late equaliser away to Aston Villa, the Red Devils now only need a point from their remaining two Premier League games to clinch their place in Europe's elite competition.
That vital win over the Cherries was certainly not plain sailing, however, with Ten Hag likely to be concerned at his side's inability to go on and get a killer, second goal which would have made life far easier.
Those attacking woes were laid bare by the shortcomings of £73m man, Jadon Sancho, with the struggling asset having now gone five league games without providing a goal or an assist, despite showing "glimpses" against Gary O'Neil's men - as per journalist Josh Bunting.
The former Borussia Dortmund man was perhaps unsurprisingly hooked late on in favour of Alejandro Garnacho, albeit with the Englishman having still laid on two key passes in his 72-minute outing, while also completing all four of his attempted dribbles as well as winning 100% of his ground duels.
That respectable record - which earned the 23-year-old a solid 7.2 match rating, as per Sofascore - ensured that he still enjoyed a better day than teammate Antony on the opposite flank, with the Brazilian trickster enduring a truly frustrating outing.
How did Antony perform against Bournemouth?
While the former Ajax ace did look sharp in last weekend's win over Wolverhampton Wanderers - having registered an assist for Anthony Martial's opener - the wide man was unable to maintain that momentum this time around, with his 6.9 match rating the lowest of any starting United player, according to Sofascore.
As GOAL's Richard Martin stated, the 23-year-old 'looked confident but once more had very little end product', having lost possession on 11 occasions from his 68 touches, while also laying on just one key pass.
The mercurial left-footer was also criticised for being too 'casual' in the second half - in the words of Manchester Evening News journalist, Samuel Luckhurst - while also being branded "really poor" by The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell after losing possession in the build-up to a chance for David Brooks just after the interval.
That "blasé attitude" - as per Whitwell - may well have irked Ten Hag with the game having still been firmly in the balance, with it fair to say that the £200k-per-week man's perceived lack of effort could have potentially cost the Red Devils .
As it proved, the Old Trafford outfit held on to ensure that they are now all but certain of a place in the top four, with Antony needing to count himself lucky that his errant performance didn't impact proceedings too greatly.